To Be Human
by Akari78
Summary: Sequel to Other Side of Omega. Life was hard enough running from Cerberus with her turian friend, but now the ex-Cerberus experiment Athena finds herself struggling with remaining human when the reapers start arriving. Dreams and a fear of death bring Athena to the edge, and without Aria there to help her, she might submit to the synthetic side of her as the voices grow stronger.
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

_I could taste the blood._

_It seeped between fingers, trickling down out my mouth and through my skin. I tried to keep it in, but my life force simply didn't want to listen. Rivulets of red tracked rivers down my body, a light shimmering within it as it fled me. My head arched back, I leaned against something, more blood escaped. I was drowning in it._

_My hand clutching my side did nothing to stay the red tide, no amount of begging or pleading would make it return to within me where it belonged. The darkness that enveloped the world around me slowly began to turn deep crimson red, pooling out from the ocean around me and becoming the sky. Pain ebbed away, numbness not even the right word to describe the emptiness that filled where that searing sensation had just been. Not only the pain left, but every other sensation, every other feeling was fleeing my body in my blood, refusing to give an explanation._

_I don't know how I got the wound, if I had been shot, stabbed, poisoned or whatever else could have done this. Soon, there was no more blood to spill out to become another drop in the ocean or a cloud in the sky, black stained red. But somehow, I was still alive. Forcing my head down to look at my body, I was met with an image that if I could still feel anything, would have horrified me. But instead, I stared with apathy at the metal that was my body, red streaks down it as the last of the human part of me washed away. Nothing but a cold machine beneath it all._

_Then the whispers started._

* * *

"Fuck!"

I jolted upright screaming, my head just barely skimming under the cabin ceiling. My heart felt like it was beating a thousand light-years a second, pounding in my head. My sheets were soaked with sweat, two very obvious twists from where my fingers were currently grasping for something to anchor me to. Something to tell me I was in reality, and no longer in another horrid dream.

My head pounded in time with my breathing, pain springing up my body every second more. When I finally leveled up, sweat coldly dripping down my forehead, a pair of green eyes were watching me. Concern swirled though alien orbs that I had seen for months, waiting in the same place, filled with the same care.

"Another dream?" Marco asked tenderly, standing at the side of my bed. In the tight spaced sleeping quarters, I occupied the top bunk and Marco the bottom. There was hardly enough room for the furniture and ourselves at the same time, and we rarely slept at the same time anymore anyways, it was simply too dangerous. At any moment we could be found out here in space, at any moment Cerberus could find us. It filled every second with terror, and lately it seemed it was getting into my dreams.

I nodded my head, cradling my forehead with my hands as I slumped my shoulder forward. "They're getting worse." My voice cracked, the fear I would still feel for hours at a time after those dreams slipping into my words. My hands were shaking even as I tried to still them against my face, eyes closed, I couldn't look at them. I couldn't be reminded how weak I'd become.

"We're almost there, we can pick up some medicine and see if it helps you sleep." Replied Marco, a hand slowly falling on my back. Before I could stop it, my whole body tensed at the contact and he gently pulled it back.

"Sorry." I muttered, shame flooding my body and making tears well in my eyes.

Marco stepped back from the bunk, each step echoing in the tiny compartment. "It's not your fault Athena." He glumly replied, sub-harmonics low, without looking up at him I could picture some 'hurt puppy' expression pulled across his scaly face. "It's their's."

But that was where he was wrong. Cerberus might have implanted that chip that influenced what I felt emotionally and physically, acting like some step down fro ma control chip, but I still had to break it's hold on me. For a month or two after we'd first gone on the run, it seemed I was in the clear, that I had control over myself and that they didn't. But these past few weeks it's returned full-force, and that was where I took fault. Every idle touch, every slip of a hand, every unexpected contact and my body tensed like I felt threatened.

It was crazy though, the only person in the entire universe I never should feel in danger with was the turian with the human name, my absolute best friend. But I did, and some days I couldn't even bring myself to look at him after it happened, shame just building up on more shame. I had hoped the constant close proximity of being stuck on a starship together would bring might help change it, and for a good while it had, but now it was like someone was stabbing me with a needle. Forcing something vile inside me.

We used to play games to pass the time, cards we'd bought on some gas giant's orbital station, or these really weird turian games he'd have to explain to me every time we played. But now those were falling apart, like a single petal from a wilting flower until the whole thing comes tumbling down. No matter how hard I tried to get past it, I felt absolutely powerless to stop it, as if months of progress had been lost in a single moment and I couldn't know why.

"Do you want something to eat? It's about breakfast time now anyways." Marco offered kindly, refusing to let me mope any longer. I pulled my head out of my hands long enough to flash him a grateful look, and then nodded my head. "We have those weird fruit type bar things, freeze-dried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and the glorious and delicious nutrient paste." I laughed at the way he said it, something he was rather good at was making me smile. The sad part though was that he didn't have to even check our stocks to inform me of my selection, he just knew, and they were that low.

"Sandwich please." I replied, tucking my legs against my chest and wrapping my arms around my knees, eyes staring forward at a small bulkhead in the wall. With a nod of his head that I just barely caught, Marco left the bedroom compartment of the ship, the door closing behind him automatically. The aching in my head had subsided entirely by now, but a dull pulse as I still tried to honestly calm down came every now and then. My bed looked more like it had just been messily disturbed as I woke up, but it was still damp, reminding me physically of the nightmare.

And the voices, they had stayed on.

We had been on the run from Cerberus around a year now, and since about three months ago my usual bad dreams had steadily declined into something far more sinister and haunting. Shadows and voices, a chill up my back as if I was being watched, they were always there. Once I was in a forest with people like forms of darkness that shimmered and watched me as I bumbled about lost and confused. They spoke from all around, a singular voice with each cold but familiar one filling it. Sometimes there were faces too.

I had seen Doctor Keller so many times, I had his face memorized. His light skin and greased back grey hair, kind blue eyes and a comforting laugh, I couldn't get him out of my mind. But when I saw him there in the forest or in the black room, he wasn't kind, he was sad and broken. If I tried to approach him, tell him in the end I had gotten free and it was worth it all, dark clawed hands came out of the ground and grabbed my feet. It angered me that I couldn't speak to him, but that anger always turned into fear as I would be sucked into the ground or he'd turn and look at me with glowing blue eyes.

The smell of food roused me from my thoughts. "Goddess." The asari term slipped out before I could stop it, hands reaching out on their own accord to snatch up the meager sandwich, my stomach was growling like a varren. I started gobbling down the food, getting half way through the first half before I could rein in some semblance of control over myself. "Thanks." My words were sticky. I probably looked like a child.

Mandibles pulled back in a smile I could never not love. "We're about a half day from Anhur, so you might want to get your disguise ready." The ever present serious mood took a firm hold, destroying the laughter. My head nodded without my consent and I far more slowly finished the food he'd brought to me, Marco taking the plate back to the bathroom to clean it.

He was down by the time I'd climbed down from the bunk, and I landed on the cold metal floor barefoot. "Alright Magnus Jortik, I'll go put my face on." I replied, using his current cover-name.

"Gertrude Verbanski." He replied back playfully. I managed a laugh as I started towards the bathroom, moving around a smiling Marco. It had taken some time, but after a while Marco and I had managed to turn our scenario just slightly into something less scary then it really was. Exciting as well as terrifying. A new name, a new face, a new life almost when we traveled somewhere. We'd arrive as one pair of people, and leave as another. I'd honestly lost track of all the names and personas we'd used, but he never seemed to. I figured he kept a list so we never used the same ones twice.

Playing a different person was fun and dangerous, but when we got back on the ship we both knew exactly who we really were. He was a turian with a kind heart from a lawless station, and I was the ex-Cerberus experiment who once had amnesia and worked for Aria T'Loak. Oh an also a Shepard, not that I honestly could see what was so special about it.

Just a big Alliance family, lots of service and lots of heroes sure. Isabella and Connor Shepard, my parents, both had served for over twenty years. Aunt Hannah and Uncle John just as well, and now my cousin was the famous Commander Shepard. Me? I was just trying to be forgotten as I should be.

The mirror gave me a perfect view of my face, one last time before I altered it once more to keep myself alive and free. Curly black hair frown out to my shoulders, dark brown eyes and tan, freckled skin. For some reason I always kept the arch in my eyebrows, I guess they'd grown on me in the end. A pair of scissors and a bottle of dye awaited me on the lip of the sink. Time for a change.

I took the scissor sin hand and looked at the tight black ringlets falling from my head. It always took me a moment to make the first snip, but I always managed it in the end. I had to manage it. A few minutes later and my hair was clung tightly to my skull, barely an inch off my head. I picked up the bottle of hair dye, strawberry blonde, and got to work.

By the time I was walking out with my new hairdo, green contacts and make-up also obscuring my real looks, Marco had put on new face paint. Unlike his intricate white markings, it was symmetrical group of red triangles along his mandible and flat nose, golden contacts displayed over his changed to green eyes. "You look nice." He smiled warmly upon my return.

A blush burned across my face before I could stop it. "Thanks, so do you."

"Got something for you." He said, walking over with a datapad, blue screen scrolling already with data. "From Aria too." Why did he sound a little less then excited?

My heart started racing with excitement, and I quickly took the little machine in hand before I scurried into the cockpit, virtually throwing myself into one of the black seats. I skimmed the technical jargon about when I had received the message, yadda yadda yadda, and got to the words sent to me by the woman I still desperately loved.

**He took it. **

I blinked, looking over those three words that were utterly confusing in truth. Who was _he_? What could he have taken? Aria was the type to keep a lot of things secret, and they were guarded well. If she wanted it, there was little that could be done to take it from her. And of course the thing had to be something I knew about, so for her that really only left two viable options.

Afterlife.

Omega.

My fingers flew over the keys, typing in the question that had my heart racing. There were plenty of people who would want to take one of if not both from her, but the _he _was someone I had to knew right? Jorvan? Did Jorvan stupidly take something from Aria T'Loak? No, it didn't seem like something he would do, especially considering she was the sole reason he was able to fly again and that was probably the most important thing to that turian pilot.

No, it was something else, I just had to figure it out. Suddenly it clicked.

**TIM? Omega? **

I sent the email without a moment to waste. In order to keep Cerberus from tracing messages we sent between each other, I had had to come up with a rather long process. Aside from all the coding I had to do in order to essentially firewall the datapad, it was linked to only one person in the entire galaxy to send and receive messages to and from, there was a considerable lag as it traveled, I'd wired it around any major hubs that the data I still had showed thicker Cerberus activity in the area. Depending on where she was, it could be hours to days before she got any word back, and just as long on top of that for me to hear from the beautiful asari pirate.

I should have been more concerned about her, about her being dead or captured, but this was Aria T'Fucking-Loak, Queen of Omega and one of the most powerful sentient in the Terminus Systems. The thought was absurd. I mean of course I worried, but this wasn't quite the galaxy was about to implode worry, more of if she was making off alright now. Seemingly, she was well enough to have sent the message at least, so I took some comfort in that.

But then again if it had been Cerberus that had defeated her...

I but the datapad down, the little machine resting in my lap, staring out at the stars that passed by us in the view port. She's gonna be alright. I forced the words in my mind over and over again, making them fact the best I could. I couldn't be afraid for her, because then I'd screw up and get Marco and I killed or worse. I couldn't be afraid.

Marco came up and sat down in the pilot's seat, flicking little switches and pressing buttons without saying a word. He wasn't the best pilot starting out, but after a year the turian had totally gotten it down. Myself, well I was our 'it's a complete fucking emergency' pilot for good reason, I'd nearly crashed us three times in our practice bits, and we weren't even trying to land. The mechanics of flying a spaceship were still beyond me.

"Do you ever miss them?" I asked, mind settling on our adventures on Omega from nearly a year ago. We hadn't landed there once since we'd departed, the closest we had ever gotten was the fuel depot, and I planned on keeping it that way. Returning to Omega was too dangerous, a litany of reasons to avoid the station always coming up to the front of my mind.

"Who?" He sounded distracted, which he honestly was so it didn't bother me.

"Eli, I mean Sorlin, Jorvan and Runin?" I clarified, though really he should have known who I meant immediately. They were the only 'them' I could ever mean.

He scratched a chin plate, a habit I doubted he would ever break, and leaned back slightly in the chair as he debated. "A bit yeah."

"Ever wonder what happened to them?"

His eyes darted to me for a split second, narrowed as if it were that hard to wonder or he didn't really want to talk about it. "Well, last I heard Sorlin got into that clan Urdnot on Tuchanka."

A smile grew on my face at the news. "Really? That's awesome!"

I earned an agreeing nod of my best friend's head. "Yeah, he sent me a message last week that came in while you were... sleeping." He added, carefully picking the word. Sleeping didn't exactly accurately describe it anymore. Resting and hoping I didn't get caught in a nightmare sounded far more accurate. I was surprised he didn't come and tell me immediately though, after all any news we got on our friends always made me happy, and it would be a lie to say I hadn't been the most uplifted person as of late. "From the sounds of the message he had joined a while ago but didn't send anything our way, or it didn't make it through to us."

"Well what did it say then?" I urged.

Marco shrugged. "Most of it was him boasting about kills he's made, or how his clan leader Urdnot Wrex is uniting the krogan people pretty effectively." He sounded surprisingly uninterested.

The name sounded rather familiar however, like I had read it or seen it somewhere. And if he was uniting the krogan then he had to be important too. "Wait, didn't Urdnot Wrex work with my cousin?" I asked. On one of the asari world's we'd landed on there had been whole stores filled with books and other merchandise on the Great Commander Shepard and her exploits in her quest to defeat Saren. There had been so many different things about her, those she'd traveled with, and what they'd done. As a joke Marco had bought me a movie about it too, and the actress didn't look a single bit like my cousin.

I still had one book that detailed everything that had been opened to the public, and it certainly had sounded like my cousin. Interestingly enough, anything that talked about our family lineage never even mentioned I existed, only one by some volus said that her aunt and uncle had _tried_ to have a child. I really blamed Cerberus for that one.

"Yeah, he was that krogan that they say was hired to kill Saren." Marco confirmed. "You know I hear she's no longer working with Cerberus." He sounded like he was still weighing his words, like something specific could make me crumple or shatter like glass. I wasn't some fragile piece of work anymore.

"So I've heard." I said flatly, turning to look back out the view port. Stars flying by was a beautiful but lonely sight. About three months ago, the same time my dreams had gotten worse, Jane had blown up an entire solar system by crashing an asteroid into a mass relay. Scary thought though was how we'd actually just been in that system, but once we heard about how batarians had captured humans they called terrorists, we'd hightailed it out of there. I couldn't see how anyone didn't see her still working with Cerberus though, blowing up an entire alien system sounded like the kind of twisted shit Cerberus would do. "She's also supposedly in jail back on Earth."

I could very easily recall Marco and I getting some supplies when every vidscreen in the store cut to a new channel, plastering my cousins face and what she'd done across it while a turian and asari anchor discussed it. I had dropped the space rations I had been about to add to my cart and started crying right in front of a bunch of asari strangers. Marco had to carry me out, take me to the ship and help me calm down before he went back hours later to finish purchasing the supplies we desperately needed.

He had held me closely and gently for so long, trying to comfort me as the bit of hope of finding and having a family crumpled around me. Memories of the girl who'd stolen cookies with me at her birthday party had run through my mind, comparing themselves with this woman who had caused so much death to others. There was just no way that kind person who stood up for others would just kill billions of innocents, I refused to believe it then and refuse to believe it now. Whoever _that _Commander Shepard was, they were not my cousin. My cousin was dead.

She just had to be.

I had seen whoever was pretending to be her once, on Omega and not realized it. I once would wonder what could have happened if I had recognized her and spoken with her, what might have transpired. Would we have recognized each other? Call each other's name, run across that one street that separated us and embrace? If I had only known who she was, who she was to me back then, how much now would be different? I would never know, because I refused now to believe it was really her now and then. It simply couldn't be because she was dead. Jane never would have willingly worked with people like Cerberus, it was against her nature. It was either her clone, or if they really did bring her back to life then they had something in her head controlling her like they'd wanted to do to me, or some super highly skilled impostor. Besides, she hadn't seen me since I was three, and I sure as hell didn't look like that little kid then.

Of course I would never let anyone in on my disbelief. For some reason, I couldn't see it going over well, especially with Marco who I slowly had learned virtually idolized the woman. Anytime we heard about the _Great Commander Shepard, _he hung on every word. She was perhaps his absolute hero, though I couldn't exactly see why. What had she done for the turians?

"Athena..."

"What?" I snapped back to reality as my name was called, looking away from the view port to he chocolate scaled turian.

"We're about to land, strap up." Marco instructed, pulling his safety straps across his chest and clicking them into place. I gave a nod of my head, straightened up and clipped the harness into place. The ship hull started to rattle slightly as we entered the planet's atmosphere. We were just getting supplies, a quick in and out was all it was going to be. Hopefully, things at last went along according to plans.

Knowing our luck, that wasn't going to happen. "Let's do this." I smirked.

* * *

**AN: And they're back! Athena and Marco's adventure has continued, this time we're going across the galaxy instead of just sticking around Omega. It's been a bit since we've seen them, but hopefully everybody will enjoy this story and what's to come. Thanks for reading, don't forget to review!**


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

When we disembarked our slowly aging spaceship, Marco and I were assaulted with countless sights and smells just as we always were. From the files I managed to pull from the extranet, Anhur had recently ended a civil war over slavery, and luckily for me on this batarian world, the abolitionists had won out. I had to do as much research as I could on the worlds we actually touched down on and visited, it was stupid of me not to. Seemingly, there was just enough of a human population for me to not stand out like a sore thumb, but not enough for me to be too worried about everybody secretly being a Cerberus agent.

Of course, I was always worried.

The two of us left the docking port that was crowded with people of all sorts of species moving in and out, having to push our way through a bit almost, bumping into batarians and humans mostly. The garden planet made it so just about everybody was comfortably able to inhabit it, meaning plenty of people were. I could feel someone's elbow jabbing at my shoulders through the light clothing I wore as we slowly made our way towards the large screening station for everybody coming in or leaving the planet.

Marco gently grasped my hand as we approached, and I managed to not cringe, though I bit the inside of my cheek. There were several uniformed batarians and humans who stood on guard, a dozen screens set up in a row where we were filed through one at a time, a green light flashing with each person cleared. "Gertrude." Whispered Marco cautiously in my ear.

"I know, don't worry." I whispered back, clutching the travel case I had in my other hand tightly, knuckles probably whitening as the tiniest bit of sweat started to make the handle slippery. No matter how many times we did this, I was always terrified by security checks. We'd learned the hard way after the first heavily populated planet we tried to land on started screaming at the sheer amount of cybernetics in my body. Some kind of anti-Geth program or something, once a high enough percentage of non-organic material was detected in a person, they were taken aside for questioning. On the batarian worlds, few came back from them too. I had lucked out though, when a turian went running right through the screening post and the guards decided I wasn't worth it and went straight after him instead.

But I couldn't rely on random luck, so I'd spent a lot of time trying to figure out a way around it, after all it wasn't like I could just turn off my cybernetics. I honestly had no idea just to what extent they ran throughout my body, just that there was a lot of them. So if I couldn't turn them off, maybe I could do something about the scan.

We were up next rather swiftly, and I sucked in a breath and stared up at the small machine projecting the clear blue hologram. Focusing on it, I kept sending message after message to the electrical device,_ all clear._ There was a buzzing sound as I stood in the light, waiting for it to turn green, a rather long delay later and there was an upbeat sound and the blue turned to green. The guards didn't even give me a second glance as I scurried as casually as I could to where Marco waited a few paces away.

"How does that even work?" He asked, looking back once over his shoulder as we started to walk up a corridor leading towards where the signs on the walls pointed to local transit station.

"Do you really want to hear the technical jargon?" I chuckled.

With a roll of golden contacts, he shrugged. "How about on the trip to our next destination." Suggested the turian. "Probably would fill up plenty of travel time."

"Deal, but only if we pick up something other then nutrient paste this time." I laughed, watching as the crowd of people slowly diminished around us.

Marco's mandibles pulled apart in a small smile that I could faintly catch out of the corner of my eye, and then we had at last reached a platform where tram rails and benches awaited us. One sweep around and I found where the train times were posted, legs moving on their own over with my turian partner close behind as always. "Man, looks like we just missed it." I announced, skimming over orange holographic letters.

"You can read that?" Marco asked, I could hear the confusion on his subharmoics.

A frown pulled across my lips and I turned back to him. "Yeah, can't you?"

"No, I don't think any of the turian written languages are going to be here either." He shook his head.

"Well, it's human. Like I said most of the population is either human or batarian." I shrugged. "Next one is in about ten minutes, so we might as well take a seat." I continued with a motion of my hand to an empty row of benches along the metal walls. We were still inside the docking port, large windows on the ceiling letting in a view of a blue sky spotted with grey clouds. There were countless advertisements on the walls, either reminding us about what we needed to do to here on Anhur like the tourists they expected us to be, or laws we had to abide by. "We'll need to take the green train if we're gonna get to that marketplace."

He nodded his head. "Take the green to get the green." I snickered at the terrible joke, his mandibles pulling apart in an over the top grin.

"I'd give you credit, but I'm flat broke." I threw back over my shoulder, sticking my tongue out as we sat down on one of the row of benches. He chuckled, neither one of us were comedians that was for sure.

We sat there silently for a little bit, Marco fiddling with his omni-tool besides me until the tram pulled in to the station. The metal doors opened before us, and a stream of aliens and humans alike came pouring out, Marco and I getting to our feet and waiting at the banks before it cleared up and we stepped on board. The tram was actually rather nice, sheen metal walls with poles in the center, nicely padded seats lining the walls facing giving it a rather spacious feel.

Taking a pair of empty seats besides a pretty faced asari and a butt-ugly batarian, I pulled up my omni-tool and started reading over some of the files I'd recently started looking through. After our escape from the Cerberus station a year ago, Marco and I had had a decent number of run-ins with Cerberus operatives sent to capture or kill us.

Among them, was another hispanic woman codenamed the Huntress. Apparently she was supposed to be pretty good at catching people, but thus far she'd only been touch and go with us. I think her real name was Justine, from the files I'd stolen from her they seemed to indicate that. I'd gotten pretty good at planting bugs on those that came after us, though the Cerberus bitch always found them within an hour or two.

Still plenty of time to steal some more files from her to keep us a bit ahead of her. From what I'd taken last time she nearly caught up to us, she was getting frustrated with the hunt. A log of hers or something, either way she was probably coming close to the end of her rope, probably gonna stop using fancy secrecy to track us and get more blatant. I wouldn't be surprised if she tried to shoot up the whole marketplace to get us.

My eyes flickered around the inside of the tram cart with boredom until they settled on the window across from me. I gazed out over the top of a young human girl's head at the city lights as we raced on by at a remarkable speed. It wasn't hard to fade off into a memory, since I'd gotten them back I'd discovered it was rather nice to slip off somewhere during long trips, and it would take around a half hour to get to the marketplace with all the stops between them.

I hated waiting out in the public's view, made me feel vulnerable. Trams, trains, all of the sort were just too open for an attack really. Honestly, if I was going to blow something up to cause damage to a city, then I'd take out public transportation. Lots of civilians, low security on the rails, and frankly it would look fantastic. Of course, I would never actually do that so what was the point in thinking about it?

Ah, there wasn't one huh?

"Gertrude...?" Marco said besides me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? What?"

"I was wondering, would you like to get some lunch at a restaurant?"

Since when did we have time for casual meals? I shook my head. "I don't think that's the best idea..."

If there was one thing Marco was, it was persistent. "Oh come on, we haven't had a hot meal planetside in such a long while Gertrude, I bet you'd love it." He goaded. "If we find a place that serves your favorite will you do it?"

I rolled my eyes. "If it serves asari food then it won't have anything for you Magnus." I laughed faintly. How is it that he got me to act like this? How could he make me relax when we were constantly in so much danger? Maybe he had magic. Space magic. Yeah, he had space magic, only logical explanation for how he did what he did to me.

"Oh don't be silly, I'm sure there will." He smiled wider, mandibles pulling apart and displaying fangs that had once terrified me.

Huffing, I crossed my arms and shrugged. "Fine, if it will calm you down I'll do it." I conceded. The turian grinned in triumph, and then turned back away from me to stare off into space. I wondered what he thought about when he was alone or waiting, what fluttered through his alien brain to fill his loneliness. I had Aria I still talked with, but he had cut off ties with that rude girlfriend he'd had back on Omega over a year ago. There certainly wasn't time for romance with someone new and foreign when we stayed in a place no longer than a day if we could help it. I didn't want to think about what he did actually, because slowly my wondering made my skin crawl.

How he dealt with it was his own business.

The tram lurched to a stop, still five stops away from our marketplace destination, and I looked up to watch the strangers board. Asari, salarian, even a drell got on interestingly enough, everybody silently taking a seat and virtually ignoring anyone they hadn't arrived on with. How could they stand the quiet?

I didn't really pay much attention to the rest of the ride, actually I'd fallen asleep. When it stopped with an extra lurch and Marco's hand was giving me a small shake, I jumped up out of the tram seat and nearly fell back down. When I glanced at Marco, a small smirk was pulling across his face, and I quickly huffed and disembarked the metal room. When he'd stepped off after me, about five other people from our cart getting off as well, he linked his elbow with my own and started walking towards the steps that led down the platform to the marketplace. "Magnus..." I stiffly growled. "What are you doing?"

"Leading my lady of course." He joked.

Muttering a few swears, I allowed him to guide me down the stairs to where a flat area opened up, cluttered with shots and booths of all sorts. Some where high-end, flashing lights and clean metal, actual buildings while the further you seemed to go from the tram station, the more worn down and shoddy the shops became. "We're getting something to eat first, 'kay?" I don't know why he asked, there was no way I was going to get out of it anyways. The turian started down one pathway, six options having been before us, golden contacts flickering from one place to another. There was probably something of everything here. I was seeing ship repair parts, food, guns and ammo, fish even! With everyone and everything there, it smelled rather nasty to be honest, almost making me think of Omega though nothing could quite compare with that rare filth.

Suddenly he stopped, and I hadn't realized until my arm was wrenching backwards, taking the rest of me with it. "Ow!" I hissed, Marco giving me one quick apologetic look before he gestured to the stand that had caught his attention. "Is this it? They've got the asari noodles?" I asked.

It was about the size of his old shop, a counter with bar stool chairs facing the walkway, and an exorbitant kitchen behind it. A slightly purple asari was waiting at the counter, and when she noticed us looking smiled warmly, a human and turian in the back cooking. Steam billowed out from the kitchen through a shaft I suppose, and the smell of the warm food quickly had my stomach growling.

His eyes were narrowed as he skimmed down the listed menu that was pressed against the overhang. "Yup!" Marco happily announced and we walked over, taking a seat each.

"Ah, welcome!" The asari smiled, handing us both a menu. "I don't think I've seen your faces around here before," she said, tilting her head to the side with thought, "nope, I don't believe I have."

I laughed dryly. "Just passing through, getting supplies."

"And lunch!" Marco chirped happily. "Spirits I'm ready for some non-rationed food." He muttered.

The asari laughed. "Oh, I know what you mean. Used to be a spacer myself, till my ship broke down beyond repair." She shrugged. "Now, what can I get for you two? A couple's combo?"

I burst into laughter before I could stop it. "Oh no, we're no couple lady." I said firmly, shaking my head. "He's like, a brother to me!" From the corner of my eye, for a split second, it looked like he had frowned. Why would he frown?

"Right, well, what would you like? I promise sir, we've got a dextro-friendly portion of the menu, prepared separately from the rest of the food." She said directly to Marco who smiled slightly when I had turned to look. "I'd suggest you try our home-made soup, perfect for trying what Anhur can offer in one go." The asari smiled to me.

"Actually, I was hoping you'd have this asari recipe I rather like. They're a type of noodles in a thick creamy sauce with a lot of herbal seasoning and some kind of fish in it." I really should find out what it was called, I probably looked like an idiot when I tried to describe.

She frowned, mouth twitching with thought for a few seconds before she straightened up. "Thessian noodles?" She suggested, leaning slightly over the counter with her elbow propped on it.

"Yeah!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself, voice raising with excitement. "That's what it's called."

Giving me a small wink and a laugh at my behavior, she typed it into the machine that was on the counter before looking up at Marco again. "Alrighty, and you sir?"

"The turian dish right here looks good." He said, pointing to a picture on the menu.

"Oh it is." She agreed, typing it in and granting us another smile. "Drinks?"

"Water." I simply decided.

"Same." He agreed.

Nodding her head, she typed a few more things into the machine on the holo-display. Over her shoulder I could see the two chefs already starting to cook, my stomach rumbling even louder as the food cooking began to freshly linger in the air. "See, I knew you'd still be hungry." Marco said triumphantly besides me, giving me a light nudge with his elbow. I promptly shoved him with a laugh.

"Alright alright, but only because our stocks on the ship are absolute shit." I joked.

"Maybe to you, but you never know the wonders of nutrient paste until it's all you have to eat after absolutely nothing for a few days. I could live off the stuff."

I shook my head, missing the feeling of my curls bouncing around me. Instead the tightly cropped ringlets stayed virtually motionless, like a sponge or something. "You know this from personal experience?"

"Oh yeah, I'll tell you back on the ship." He laughed. When turians did that, it sounded rather weird, the way their subharmonics acted. Like something scratchy but at the same time it sounded smoother than normal. Either way, I liked the way it sounded, weird as it was. Maybe that's why I liked it, it was different, intriguing even. A break from the hum drum of the ship's engines and the stark silence of space. "It's quite the tale."

"Sounds like the perfect bedtime story then." I snickered.

As he rolled his eyes, the asari strolled up to us and laid down a plate for the both of us on the counter. Instantly my eyes snapped onto the meal before me. It certainly looked and smelled like the right thing, and with a single bite I was sold. It was definitely Thessian noodles alright, and boy was it good. Every time I ate it, which wasn't as often as I would prefer of course, I felt almost like there was peace in that moment.

Maybe though, because it made me think of Aria.

By the time we'd wolfed down half of our food, Marco's some blue leaf looking things with some kind of meat on top, I was starting to miss the purple asari again. Something had happened to her, something bad, and it would be some time before I found out just what. If I didn't distract myself, I was going to go insane if I spiraled out of control thinking about what might have happened to her. I might have had a hunch, but it was just that, a hunch. No proof, not a single shred of evidence.

"Props to the chefs." I said to the asari who looked faintly similar to the pirate queen. Marco muttered approval between bites of food.

"I'll be sure to tell them." She smiled, waiting at a seat at the end of the counter for any more customers to swing by.

I peeked over to Marco, and laughed as he struggled to get a small bite of food on his fork. "Oh hush up Gertrude." He scowled.

"Alright, fine." I snickered. "So, we need food that'll last at least another three months..." I started to list the supplies.

"Yeah, fresh packet of thermal clips, a new filter for my enviro-suit, " Marco joined in, listing them off from memory, "also some lubricant for the landing gear, they're getting kinda... nasty." He shook a hand back and forth.

"What about, some meds?" I suggested after a bit of hesitation.

"Meds?" He repeated back. "For what? You're not feeling sick are you?"

"No, well yes, but I mean-" I struggled for words, "-for the nightmares." I whispered tightly. "Maybe there is something I could use to kinda, keep them in check you know?"

Marco frowned. "I don't like the idea of getting medicine for you from this place Gertrude. We'll go somewhere with better, more reliable stock next alright?"

Head lowered, I mutely nodded in agreement. He probably was right anyways, there was more then likely seedy drug dealers trying to take advantage of the desperate. Which apparently I thought I was one such. "Alright, deal." I agreed as I finished the noodles.

"Good, now anything we're forgetting?" He asked, scraping the last bit of the leafs to the corner of his plate to finish off.

"Some new clothes." I simply said. "Mine are all getting torn and ruined beyond repair."

Confusion was rather easy to read off a turian's faceplates after you spend a year with one. "What in the name of the Spirits are you doing that's ruining them so quickly? He asked sharply.

"Uh, well, I- I just need some new ones alright?" Fire was burning across my face.

He sighed. "Alright fine, but only if I get a new suit too."

I smiled. "Deal, ready to go?" I asked as I hopped off the stool. Marco handed over the credit chits to the asari who gave one last smile before he joined me a few feet away. Excitement suddenly rushed up my body and I found myself laughing. "Time to go shopping!"


	3. Chapter Three

**Chapter Three**

"Ew, no, please don't buy that." I laughed with my nose scrunched. Marco snorted, placing the green turian outfit back on the rack before turning towards another row of clothes. The batarian clerk rolled his four eyes as I voiced my disapproval of another article of clothing Marco had picked from. Tenth one up, he held the dark blue and gold laced outfit for my opinion, which I certainly never would voice.

"How about this one?" He asked, handing it over for me to inspect.

The fabric was nice, nothing too rough or too soft, it would probably last as he worked on the ship or if we got into a tough spot without being overtly obvious as some kind of protection. "Actually, I like this one."

"So the human girl finally approves?" The batarian sneered from behind the counter.

"Yes, the human woman finally approves." I shot right back.

"So do I, it's a pretty popular style back on Palaven too." Marco chimed in, ignoring the clerk and I as he took it back and held it up against his body. From the looks of it, it would fit rather nicely. "Alright, I got my suit, and you got your clothes too, let's buy 'em and get outta here." He decided, approaching the counter while pulling out our credit chits.

I shrugged, leaned against the side of another stand, and watched the quick interaction. The clerk seemed all too happy to send us off on our merry way. Truth be told though, we'd probably spent far too long here anyways, it was time to get moving. Maybe it was just because we'd spent some time relaxing, not thinking about the doom that hung over our heads, that I'd let my guard down some. Allowed myself to have a bit of fun.

We left towards the tram station after a few more minutes, Marco trying to bargain down the price only to fail miserably. By the time we'd have walked past the countless vendors and market shops to the station, it would be dark, so I started to pick up the pace. Our supplies were loaded onto a cart in crates, Marco refusing to let me help push it, as we started towards the station. I didn't know what was his whole deal about doing the more physical tasks as of late, maybe he thought with my nightmares I was too tired to do it properly, which I certainly wasn't but whatever. I'd bring it up after we were in the clear.

"We've wasted too much time." I muttered as we worked our way through the crowd of shoppers, aliens and humans in an unending number.

"But you found something fun about all this didn't you?" He asked besides me, pushing it through the sea of people. Was that what he wanted? To make us have a bit of fun? I doubt enjoying myself could make anything better, our situation couldn't be lessened in just how deadly it was, and it certainly wouldn't get Cerberus to stop chasing after me. Having fun, especially in a more open setting, means letting my guard down and that could mean death.

Shaking my head, I couldn't stop a dry laugh from escaping me. "Having fun isn't what we're here to do." I sharply said.

"I know but sometimes we have to or else you or I will go insane." He argued, one hand letting go of the chart and reaching towards me. I quickly stepped away, shooting him a glare. Just like always, he shrugged it off, and kept on pushing the cart.

"You know, I could do that." I growled.

"Sure, but I am right now."

"Let me do it after the ride back to the docking port then."

I caught his gaze for a split moment before he turned back to look at the people we were moving through. "Sure, if it'll make you happy."

We'd reached the steps, a batarian signalling for us to come over towards a cargo tram where a few aliens waited to stash their new property into it. It took us a few minutes before we were up, but with Marco, the batarian worker, and myself loading the handful of luggage we had on board, it didn't take long before we were being ushered towards the passenger tram.

Taking seats across from each other, I was situated between a pair of aliens. A slightly greenish yellow salarian on my left who was absorbed in their data pad, and a grizzly faced human man on my right. Whenever I was this close to another human, I never really felt safe, especially not since Jason had turned out to be Cerberus. So instead, I just focused on Marco, who gave me a slight smile as he was smushed between an overweight batarian, and an elcor that was attempting to fit in the chair besides him.

I could barely stifle a laugh, as the elcor muttered monotone apologies for thinking it could make it work, and slowly move towards the more open center of the tram. After the comical display, the rest of the train ride was silent, my mind drifting off at the quiet as a gentle electronic music hummed out of the speakers.

We departed once we'd arrived back at the docking port, the same batarian helping us and the other passengers unload their cargo. I smiled as we started towards customs, proudly pushing along the cart. It was stupid to be so picky about things, but it made me feel more like I was doing something of use. After all, I was the entire reason we were on the run, Cerberus might have still gone after Marco because of what he'd seen and done, but certainly not as fiercely as they did to me. He was the best friend a gal could ever ask for, I guess I was just terrified I wasn't as good as one back to him. After all, Marco'd set the bar pretty high.

I stood besides the cargo as we waited in line at the clearance, I suppose it was to make sure we weren't smuggling anything off-planet. However, we ourselves weren't given the same level of inspection that we got on arrival. A batarian woman approached Marco when we'd moved up to the screening zone, our luggage ambling along on its own along a track.

Unfortunately for me, it was a human woman that came up to me. She was rather pretty, black hair pulled into a bun beneath her uniform cap, shining blue eyes watching me as I waited for her to wave the wand over me. When she hesitated for a moment, I shot her a cautious look, but she shook her head and started to bring the little device up and over my body. I normally wouldn't have any fear of them, they were looking from illicit substances like red sand or hallex, so when it started beeping, I was surprised to say the least.

"I'm not carrying." I instantly objected, stepping back slightly. There was absolutely no reason for it to have been going off, none what so ever. So why was it.

"Sir, please stand back." I could hear the batarian speaking to Marco, who I guess was trying to come over to my aid as the human grabbed my wrist forcibly.

She looked me dead in the eye before she started moving towards the security station to the side. There was no way I could afford to go in there, hell, I might not even make it that far! Struggling not to panic and make a scene, which would only make things worse, I turned and looked at the obviously worried turian. "I'll be out soon, I promise, it's all just some big misunderstanding!" I called over my shoulder as the human dragged me almost to the door, "Go get the stuff loaded so you'll be ready when I'm freed!"

In other words, get the shit, load it up, and be ready to run like hell. Because there was about to be hell.

Darkness engulfed me as she took me inside the security station, a place no one wanted to go to on a batarian world. I'd heard plenty of stories, especially in the long customs waiting lines. People went in, and only the guards came back out, sometimes people who really had done nothing wrong. My heart was racing by the time she'd stopped walking, standing in front of a door that had an interface on it keyed to the security personnel only. She waved her omni-tool in front of it, and then dragged me inside.

"I don't know why you brought me in here, I've really have nothing on me." I defended, a table with a plastic bucket waiting on it in the center of the room.

She looked up at me and gave a tired sigh, like she'd been through this routine a thousand times before. Which probably, she had. "Look ma'am, I'm going to need you to unload any objects you have on your person in this bucket, and put your shoes here on the table. Deposit your omni-tool over there on the shelf," she pointed across the way to the right wall, "and any weapons you may have for _whatever _reason they may be, put them on that shelf as well."

I blinked at the orders, and with a nervous laugh began to follow. To be honest, I wasn't certain if I should play along, or start shooting and running. But, she'd already taken me deep into the security post, I doubt I could ever stand up against an entire posting of heavily armored security soldiers when I'm in my traveling armor. Nothing more than some light armor that could easily be hidden beneath clothes with shields up and active. Anything else and I stuck out like a sodding sore thumb.

After I'd removed my shoes -which really, why in the hell did I need to do that- I started to empty out my pockets. It wasn't much, some credit chits, false identification cards, a small finger sized model of Omega, and a pair of thermal clips. I glanced up at her, the woman was eyeing the model I liked to carry around before she reached for the ID's. She was still nose deep in them by the time I'd put my shotgun on the shelf, omni-tool resting besides it.

A sensation I didn't like feeling ran up my spine as I turned to the woman, coldness seeping up into my soak covered feet. I was vulnerable, and I hate feeling vulnerable. Like I was bare and open to the woman I knew nothing about, and wanted to know nothing about. I'd spent enough time on the run to learn some basic hand-to-hand, Marco a surprising help in those lessons until my reactions grew too strong for that type of activity any more. But basic training was nothing compared to what a security guard, be it private or government, should have beneath their belt.

Without either of the two precious pieces resting on the shelf, I might as well have handed her my life and said, 'please don't fuck it up?'. But I held no such trust in any stranger, why should I after all? Especially not human strangers, what with an organization of crazy ones hunting me down and all. Which meant I was pretty royally fucked right about now.

She looked up at me from the ID's, and then dropped them in the bucket as well. A frown was pulled across her face, hands resting on the table, she looked ready to jump over it and attack me if need be. Which, hopefully that wouldn't be needed, but who knew? "These are horrible documents ma'am." She said in a monotone voice, an accent I wasn't familiar with still shining through.

"Excuse me? They're all legit, I assure you." I defended haughtily.

"No, they're not, you really should do a better job Michelle, or else she'll catch you for sure." She sighed with annoyance.

I started scoffing, shaking my head swiftly, "I'm sorry, but who the fuck is Michelle?" Every bit of my body was racing.

"Look, my name is Miranda Lawson, I'm an ex-Cerberus-"

"What, your huntress couldn't handle it on her own so she finally called in back up far more capable than she?" I cut her off with a snarl, jumping towards my equipment. My body instead went flying into the wall further away from the shelf, Miranda rippling with lingering biotic energy when I glared at her.

"Listen to me, I am not your enemy!" She firmly shouted, stepping between myself and the shelf. "I'm on the run, just like you are, from Cerberus."

I laughed darkly as I got to my feet, glaring at her with all I could. "Fat load of shit that is, if you know about them and you were them, then I'm not going to trust you." I snarled. If I got to the other side of the table I could upturn it towards her, probably get to my gun or omni-tool. But with those damn biotics, she'd make it real hard to do that.

"Dammit woman, I know you're terrified but we don't have time for you to not believe me!" She growled out with frustration, "I'm in as much danger as you are by coming here and doing this!"

Shaking my head, I balled my hands into fists, "Look lady, I'm sure you and your biotics can handle themselves, but right now you're between me and my only form of self-defense." I spat, "let me have my gun and I'll start trusting you."

A cold laugh came from the blue eyed woman who quickly shook her head, "Michelle, you must obviously think me some sort of fool."

"Stop calling me that, it's not my name!" How in the world did she even know that? Who the hell was this woman? From what my files stated, the only people that ever knew my real name were the people on the project, my would-be assassins, and the Illusive Man himself. So just who exactly was this lady? Someone real deep with the Shadow Broker? Someone who rivaled me on the hacking game? I almost didn't want to find out.

"Michelle Shepard, I know exactly who you are and what you're capable of," Miranda said with a slightly softer tone, like she was actually trying to reason with me. "Just hear me out at least, because I've taken a monumental risk in coming after you."

"Give me my _fucking_ gun."

"No." Damn this woman to hell.

"Then my omni-tool."

"You're more powerful with that in my opinion." She scowled seriously, "I know you don't want to trust me, you've just met me and I've taken away your first two forms of defense, but you forget something very important Athena," she suddenly used the name I preferred to call myself, "you're not alone. I am."

I narrowed my eyes at her, inching slowly closer towards her. Blue eyes narrowed right back, so obviously she'd noticed my attempts at subtle motions. Obviously she was smart, really smart in fact, and with biotics and foreknowledge on her side I was going to have to think very carefully about this. "If I hear you out, you better damn well give me my shit back." I snarled, lowering my hands in reluctance agreement.

A tiny smile spread across her face, though it might have been a rather smug one, and she nodded her head. "Look, I need your help. My father is a very powerful and evil man, and he's a threat to the one person I love. If you can help me break into a facility on Noveria and steal some rather important files, then I'd be willing to compensate you greatly."

"You need my tech skills?" I stared at her beautiful face, trying to figure out if she was lying to me or not. From the amount she knew, she certainly was Cerberus in some way. It better truthfully be in the past though, else she and I would quickly be at blows.

"Yes, because believe it or not, there are few would could ever rival your abilities," she nodded her head. "My father is working with Cerberus somehow, if you help me we could help expose them to the Alliance, Council, anyone really, and it'll help destroy them." The woman offered, and I couldn't deny that sounded pretty nice, "Instead of the three of us having to run forever, we could actually stop and smell the roses for a change, or enjoy a meal without looking over our shoulders every few bites."

I bit the inside of my cheek, "That does sound nice, I'll admit, but you still haven't proven I can honestly trust you. What if you're just someone working with the Huntress to kill me? Why'd you go through all this anyways?"

She laughed as if it were obvious, "I had to make sure you were really you. I'll admit your skills are disguising has improved these past few weeks. But wouldn't that mean I'd have already killed you, captured you, never told you who I was or what I was planning?"

"Last time I trusted someone who had been Cerberus, he was a red eyed freak who nearly killed me and my friends." I growled, "So excuse me for being cautious."

"I mean we've wasted enough time as it is. Now tell me, are you going to accept my offer or not?" She asked coldly.

So my life loved to take twists and turns it would seem. Marco and I could hardly accommodate a third person into the ship, it was tight enough with just us as it were. Bringing her along certainly would mean that whoever was sent after her would start coming after us too. Did we really need that much heat? At the same time though, this woman was obviously useful in a fight, even from the glimpse I'd seen here. She easily tossed me across the room and she didn't even look the slightest bit out of breath. Wearing that uniform also made it easy to tell she was well built, and not just on the muscle either.

There was something about her that seemed, familiar, almost. Maybe I'd seen her somewhere else before, maybe she'd been tracking Marco and I for sometime even? We were running low on credits, the ship was in need of repairs from all the exotic places we went to stay safe, perhaps we'd actually need this reward she was offering. And hell, I'd love to screw Cerberus right back after the shit they've put me and my friend through.

And if she was another liar, there was always the airlock.

"Fine, now give me my stuff." I scowled, trying to seem tough. A smirk grew across her face, and Miranda swiftly handed them over. I pulled my shoes on, restuffed my pockets with the few items I had, and then looked up at the woman. This, was going to be hard to explain to Marco.

"We need to get to your ship quickly, before she shoes up." Miranda said as we started rushing back out towards the docking port and out the security posting.

"_She? _You mean the Huntress?" I asked as I ran after her, turning down a corridor.

Lawson's black bun bounced as she nodded her head, "Exactly, and I don't want to face her if I don't need to, my father needs to be investigated right away."

"I'm assuming you'll let me in on all those familial details along the way to Noveria? After all, you seem to know a bunch about me." And frankly, it wasn't fair.

Waving a hand dismissively, she didn't exactly give me an answer, but instead led the way to the last door. "Alright, act natural, and move fast." She instructed. I nodded my head, the door opened, and she started to walk out. I followed as casually as I could, only the batarian security guard from earlier and a human who was getting processes around.

"Hey, Walker, what took you so damn long?" The batarian growled upon our approach to the gates.

"Sorry, false alarm," Miranda apologized.

The guard jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "It's your first day on the job, I know, now get back to work."

Nodding her head, Miranda kept on walking by, "Let me just escort this woman back, after all I held her up."

"Whatever, just don't be surprised when I submit your evaluation sheet and you've got nothing but bad marks." She warned.

Smiling as if she cared, Miranda led me further along, and we were moving as fast as we could without arousing too much suspicion. Turning down to where Marco had landed the ship, something loud came from my right that held a very distinctive sound. Rockets. "Get down!" I shouted, ducking to the ground and Miranda following a moment after me. Half a second later, the few feet in front of us blew up in smoke, another round of flying explosives coming at us.

Miranda got to her feet, bringing up a barrier of biotic energy that deflected the second one, but it didn't go far before it exploded, Miranda's shield wavering. I got to my own feet, looking around where the projectiles were coming from, but with so many different ships about it was hard to tell where it had come from. "It's her." Miranda growled out in warning.

Heavy footsteps came from the right, and I turned to see that same damn suit of armor that had been hunting me since I'd left Omega. Sleek and metallic, it was silver and blue, a helmet obscuring her face. But I didn't have to see it to picture the smug look on the Huntress's expressions as she stared down at us from on top of a passenger ship, rocket launcher in hand. "You're a bitch to track Athena, you know that?" She laughed darkly.

"And you're a bitch to lose Justine, you know that?" I spat right back.

* * *

**AN: So, stupidly tardy here. Sorry about that. Either way, I'd love to hear what you think about Miranda and Athena's meeting, and this new character Justine in the reviews! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

The first time Marco and I had run into her in person, we had been on the Citadel, attempting to get repairs done on our ship after we'd been caught in an asteroid storm while traveling through the Pax system. It would have taken about three days at least to repair our ship, so we'd made some plans to stay a while. He and I had been at a hotel, eating food we'd ordered from some delivery place when suddenly the windows blew in. I'd been thrown across the floor, Marco having jumped over and shielded me from the shattering glass from behind us.

A moment later, that damned woman came jumping in, light gleaming off her armor. She'd said one word, _surrender_, before she'd started shooting. By that time though, we'd gotten our hands on our weapons and ducked behind the overturned table. She let off two rounds from a pistol, and then ran right towards us. I had to give her credit for one thing, she was ballsy, never wasting a moment with worry and diving right in to the fight.

Marco fired up at the light, blasting it to shards and sending the hotel room into a near dark, the ever-present light of the wards filtering in through the broken windows. When she'd jumped around the table to flank us, I raised my shotgun and fired, sending her skidding back as her barriers deflected the initial damage. Marco and I then went running right out the door, leaving what little we had brought in there with us and bolting down the hallway with curses flown after us.

I remember how terrified I was as we turned the corner to the elevator, and suddenly I was being pulled backwards by a haze of purple and blue energy. My turian friend had wheeled around, and started firing thermal clip after thermal clip where Justine was standing in the hallway. I couldn't even turn around until she'd pulled me completely to her, grabbing my collar and bringing the hilt of her pistol right into my temple.

My vision was nothing but stars as she started to move backwards, the sounds of gunfire in the hall, Marco shouting things I didn't understand. Next thing I knew, she was throwing me out the window from our room, and I went falling right into a top-open skycar. Justine hopped in right next to me, closing the top and taking off without missing a beat.

My head was still spinning from the blow she'd given me, but there was no way I was going to make her taking me this simple. The moment her gaze had shifted from me to the cars around us, I had leaped forward and managed to get my hands on the wheel. She twisted it the other way, sending us in a downward plummet as I tried to seize control of the vehicle.

Her shoulder against my neck, a hand pushing against my face, she was putting up a fight. Just when I had my hands on the wheel enough to pull back, a fist went right into my nose, pain surging before I had time to blink. "Stay the fuck down!" She had demanded as I slumped in the chair for a moment in a more than annoyed voice, her helmet securely on. Thinking back to it, I probably should get myself one of those.

Despite my bleeding nose, I gritted through the pain and looked up to see she was getting close to a docking port, meaning she nearly had me entirely. She had probably been smiling then, thinking she might just steal me away because apparently Cerberus still wanted me alive back then even after everything.

Suddenly the skycar was lurching, someone ramming into us from below and it could have only been one particular alien coming to my rescue. She muttered under her breath, flipping some switches on the dash, and the sound of metal moving filled the air above the thrusters. The top opened back up, and she lifted one hand up, pistol in hand, and started to fire right at the skycar Marco had rented for us earlier.

By then though, I had regained my senses from all the blows she'd given to my head, and I saw my one chance. With a scream to Marco to catch me, I had stood up and jumped right out of the fast flying vehicle. It was incredibly, absolutely stupid, but it had fucking paid off. Marco tipped the skycar to the side, and I landed on the glass with a slight bit of pain. I gripped the edge, finding anything to hold onto and keep myself from slipping.

Then without waiting a moment for Justine to react with biotics and pull me back to her, Marco cut the power to the engines and we nearly dropped out of the sky. Before we crashed into the metal below us, he increased the power to the thrusters, and we were sailing away from the Cerberus agent who no doubt had turned after us, trying to doggedly pursue.

The chase had turned into a half hour long, Marco weaving between buildings and traffic with the woman right behind us, until eventually he somehow lost her around a tight bend. The moment we were safe to land, we did so, me sliding off the glass that I had remained on the entire time somehow. On foot, we raced to an elevator to take us to a different wards zone, and made our way back to where our ship was being repaired.

It hadn't been finished, still needing a few new parts here and there, but it was flyable, so we paid for what had been done and left without a second thought. We didn't see her again for three weeks, and that time we had been ready for her biotics.

But now, I wasn't with my partner, I was a decent amount away from him and with some stranger I had just agreed to work with. But unlike all those times before, I had a biotic on my side.

"I see you got yourself a new friend 'Thena," Justine laughed darkly, her helmet pulling back automatically with some function she had since gotten installed. Her hair was cut into an interesting style, the left side of her brown hair short and close to her skull while the rest was pulled to the right and going down to her chin, the left not making it past her ears by that much.

I'd only seen her face a few times, fights when she had closer in that ended up getting very fierce, but she wasn't easy to forget. Strong jawed, flawless tanned skin, and stunning silver eyes. I would never deny she was beautiful, but the scowl she always had on it made her beautifully dangerous.

"I'll have fun carting her back to Cerberus for punishment," she flashed Miranda deadly grin, "if I even let her live that long."

"You can try Justine, but you're not going to get either of us," I said, reaching for my shotgun strapped once again on my back. "Why don't you just give up already, we've been at this for a year now."

"My superiors don't like failure, you think I could just quit?" She sneered, still standing on top of the passenger ship that was a few feet away, and fifteen feet up. "Oh no, Lawson knows just how much Cerberus doesn't like it when people just up and leave. I like hunting, not being hunted."

"How far is your ship?" Whispered Miranda in my ear, blue light floating around her as she seemed to be gathering energy for a biotic attack. I myself was already focusing up energy to shoot an overload at the woman who towered above us.

"Still a few rows over, she's biotic like you, we'll have to watch out," I whispered back, catching the slightest of nods from Miranda from the corner of my eye.

Without waiting another moment, Miranda moved her hand forward and sent out her biotic attack, Justine quickly jumping back and throwing something quickly to counteract it. I whipped my shotgun out fully, sending a few shots up to get her to move further back while the two of us took off into a run towards the ship.

Before we had cleared by the passenger ship though, my feet suddenly were no longer hitting the ground. I gritted my teeth with frustration, stomach doing flops at the weightlessness as she lifted me high into the air before letting the energy go to send me plummeting back down.

There was probably three seconds at max before my face went right into the ground, and to be frank, I didn't know how I was going to get out of it. Bracing myself for a fuck ton of hurt, I was surprised to say the least to find myself suspended a foot above hard metal, Biotics shimmering around me from a different woman. Miranda released me a second later, and I rolled to absorb the bit of impact left.

When I'd got back to my feet, I was greeted with the sight of one biotic fighting another. It was, to put it simply, terrifying. Like watching two forces of nature collide violently, the very ground we stood upon shaking with each counteracted attack. Explosions of dark energy rattling the planet, reverberating through the air with a very distinctive boom. Miranda slapped Justine's barriers with a warp, but the woman quickly retaliated with a push of biotic energy.

I clutched the barrel of my shotgun tightly as I made my way around the ship Justine was still perched on top of, and started to climb up the irregular surface. With the two duking it out so intensely, they were going to wear each other out soon enough, and I had to be ready when they did, and hope it was Justine who gave first.

I crept behind her, keeping my gun level on her back. There was a fifty-fifty chance it would hit, and do some damage. When I pulled the trigger, she was somehow well aware of what I was doing, and brought up a wave of blue energy behind her with a flick of her wrist, effectively cushioning the attack. But, lucky me, she was sent flying from the force still behind it down off the wing onto the ground where Miranda was catching her breath. I made quick after her, rushing off the lip of the metal and rolling once I hit the ground to absorb its impact.

Justine had gotten back up to her feet, and Miranda seemed to have caught a second wind. There was probably two seconds of the biotics just glaring at each other before either of them made a move. To be frank, I felt very out of my element. I've fought biotics, one in particular several times over, and fought alongside them before too, but I never really knew what to do. When I was being a help or a burden to my allies, and when I was actually doing something against my enemies. They were just so unpredictable, it was infuriating really. They could manipulate the world around them without the need for electricity, and there really seemed to be an endless capability and need for them even.

That Doctor Freeman had been wrong, the whole Cerberus project had been wrong. I might have unique abilities and uses, but in a universe to where a flick of a hand can send people flying through the air, obviously I wasn't a god like Freeman had proclaimed between insane laughter and poisonous froth.

Justine launched herself right at Miranda, glowing with purplish blue energy. Miranda met her full force, their hands slamming together as they tried to physically overpower one another. I was probably only a few feet away, but found my feet glued in one place. That same energy was building, crackling almost between their fingers. I could easily see Miranda's face scrunched in concentration, blue eyes narrowed and glaring directly into Justine's silver orbs. The ground beneath them started to actually give beneath them, dipping beneath their feet and splintering outwards like a web.

"Lawson!" I hollered, the sound of their struggle roaring in my ears, "I don't know what's happening but it doesn't look good!"

"I know!" She called back, an orb forming around the two that quickly expanded out, knocking me into the nearest ship. A moment later a deafening boom erupted into life, the two being thrown away from each other violently as the opposing dark matter finally reacted. My ears were screaming at me in protest, ringing so loud that my head swam dizzy. Somehow my face had ended up pressed into the ground, a cold ache up my right side.

Arms shaking, I struggled halfway to standing, a hand on the ship besides me for support and blinked up at what was around me. Several ships were moved, not by much but enough to notice, tilting slightly on their wings or leaning against other ships. There were a few painful moments as I looked around to find my new partner, my head swimming still, before I found her. She was on her hands and knees, hair tumbling about her and for a few moments she looked like she was shaking.

Each step hurt as I approached her, probably because I'd been slammed into a freaking metal wall. I swallowed the pain though, cringing at the sharper spikes and remaining silent as I reached her. When I held out a hand, Miranda looked up and then quickly took it. My guess, from the exhaustion that was suddenly pooling across her face, was that she'd reached her biotic limit. I certainly had a limit on what I could safely use when it came to my tech powers.

"We need to move, now," Miranda said tightly, almost as if she was trying to hold in some pain herself. I followed her gaze to where a certain Cerberus agent was laying down where she'd been knocked back to. She looked like she was stirring.

"On it," I replied, and the two of us started moving as fast as our bodies would allow, just short of running through the rows of ships. If I focused on only moving my feet, we'd make it, if my thoughts would only stay clear. But of course, despite it all, I couldn't keep my mind on one thing. It kept attaching itself to every panicked, fleeting thought. If Justine would awake and follow us fast enough, if we would make it, if Marco would be ready for us, if I could trust the woman rushing besides me. I really was putting a lot of faith in her fast, but she had just helped me evade Justine if only for a short while.

Dammit, focus Athena! One foot, and then another.

Suddenly there it was, the ship I'd called home for over a year now. And the boarding ramp was down, ready for Miranda and I to run right up it. "Marco!" I screamed as loud as I could, the woman besides me racing with as much as we could. Something was violently moved behind us. Shit, oh shit, she was about to catch up. "Marco get ready to close it!" The cockpit was facing the other way from us, so unless he was standing nearby he wouldn't be seeing us. Goddess I just hope he heard me.

Miranda started to get ahead of me, our legs pounding as we raced for the light coming out of the ship's hull. She was a step in front, running right up it, when I felt myself getting pulled backwards by something. "Shit!" I screamed, the world moving backwards and my torso getting wrenched to where I'd just been. I turned my head, and there she was, glowing with biotics and pissed as hell. Her silver eyes were narrowed into slits against a tan canvas. "A little help here!" I turned to look back at the ship.

The boarding ramp was empty, Miranda wasn't there. I blinked, it was starting to close. Suddenly I wanted to scream, wanted to hurl my fury at the woman I'd stupidly put trust into. Obviously she really only cared for herself. But Marco? How the hell was she getting him to close it without me? Did he not know I wasn't in there, or was she holding him at gunpoint? "Marco!" I screamed, still hurtling towards Justine who had grabbed me from a ways back.

My gut lurched, the pulling had stopped, and another biotic detonation sounded behind me. I was dropped onto my feet, and I looked over my shoulder as I tried to steady myself with my hands to see Justine sliding backwards, a hand trying to stop the motion. I had probably a split second to run, and I was wasting it. I'm a fucking idiot. My feet started racing towards the boarding ramp which had suddenly stopped closing, but it was halfway there, I'd have to climb in.

"Get back here!" Snarled Justine, that same menacing tone sending shivers down my spine and making me move even faster. A face popped up above the metal slope, Miranda's. Maybe she wasn't trying to get me killed and leave me behind.

"Hold on!" She called, accent and all. Her body shuddered with blue, biotics reaching out in a single tendril and wrapping itself around my body. I'd been the object of these types of moves so many times, but I'd never shake the chill that ran down my spine every single time. She lifted me from the ground, coaxing me up the bit of distance right into the hull, saving me from trying to jump and clamber up. Saving me from Justine. The moment my body was inside she turned and shouted, "Close it and take off!"

Marco, who obviously was at the helm, listened without hesitation. The ship shook as the ramp came into place and the atmosphere leveled out in the airlock that had at the moment been open to the rest of the ship. Then the thrust kicked in, Miranda grabbing the nearby railing along the wall to keep herself from falling over while I simply opted to remain on the ground until we'd cleared the atmosphere.

Once that was done, and the flight had leveled out we all knew we didn't have much time to get to the relay before Justine would have been after us. And we couldn't afford for her to be able to track us. Together we rushed to the cockpit, myself throwing the thoughts against Miranda away as we got to Marco. "Where are we going?" He quickly asked, fingers flying across holos as he punched in all sorts of stuff.

"Noveria," Miranda quickly instructed.

He glanced up at me, "Do it," I nodded. With a dip of his head, he adjusted our course and brought us speeding towards the mass relay. I didn't allow myself to relax until I heard and felt us go into FTL speeds, the hum of the engines filling the air above Miranda and I's labored breathing.

Turning around in the chair, he looked at us with a raised eye ridge. "So, mind filling me in?" My friend asked, looking more so at Miranda.

"Oh," how could I have forgotten he wouldn't know who she was? No wonder there seemed to be a moment of fighting in the ship when I was getting pulled back. "Right, this is Miranda Lawson, she's going to be working with us for a little while."

"Pleasure to meet you Miranda," Marco extended a hand, taking me at my word without question.

She gave a half smile, polite really, and shook his hand. "And you too Marco."

"How did you-"

"She's known about us for a while it seems," I joked to him as I cut him short, "Because Miranda here, is ex-Cerberus."

Marco nearly fell out of his seat.

* * *

**AN: Gosh, it's been far too long since I've written a first person fight scene. Sorry it took so long, just getting all that, plus biotic battle, down was hard. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading and I'd love to hear what you think in a review!**


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

"She's what!" Screeched Marco for probably the tenth time, reaching for the pistol he kept stashed besides the pilot's seat. Miranda quickly shook her head, stepping between him and the gun.

My friend was reasonably freaking though, considering who we'd been running from for around a year, and all the shit from before that even. "Marco, she's _ex_-Cerberus." I repeated.

"Exactly," Miranda piped up, "I left them about three months ago, and I have no intention of going back." He eyed her warily. "I need you and Athena's help to find out just what my father is doing, and how to stop him. All I have for certain is that he is working with Cerberus," she gave a half smile when he started to relax, "a common enemy."

He glared over her shoulder towards me, "And you trust her?"

A shrug rolled off my shoulders, "Enough to let her on the ship." Which, was true. "We can always throw her out the airlock if she tries to betray us." Miranda frowned slightly, but Marco gave a nod of his head in agreement.

"So, then, what's the plan Miranda?" Marco sat back down in his seat, "We going to your dad and just holding him at gunpoint or something? Blowing up a facility? Hacking into a thousand different databases?"

I laughed faintly, and then just shook my head. "We need to go to Noveria, where my intel says he has been doing some shady transactions there on the planet. It's a known corporate planet, already has tons of shady businesses going on there, but I suspect my father is doing something that would be of great concern to the rest of the galaxy." Miranda started.

"Why is your father such a bad guy?" I frowned, "What, does he manufacture super dangerous weapons and pawn them off to the highest bidder?"

"Not exactly, but he is still a dangerous man."

"What do you mean, not exactly?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at the woman who was about an arm's distance away.

She shook her head, jaw tight. She was hiding something, but what I couldn't tell exactly. "I'd rather not jump to conclusions, but I can assure you right now that whatever it is, it's dangerous." I stared at her blue eyes, and she stared right back. My arms were crossed over my chest, and she simply took the hostile behavior. She certainly was confident.

"Fine, I'll deal." It wasn't like we weren't going to be keeping secrets from each other. "Just let us know if it's going to affect our mission."

She looked at me, something swirling in her eyes that unnerved me. Like she knew something very specific about me, that I myself wasn't even aware of. Goddess this wasn't going to be an easy trip if she kept that up. "As far as I know, no, it won't."

Shaking it off, I waved towards the ship, "I guess I'll give you the tour, Marco you fine up here?" I looked over at him, the turian simply waving a hand at me as he turned back around to deal with something beeping on the control panel.

"Alright, so, it's not that great, but here's what we got," I said over my shoulder, Miranda following along. "Storage compartment there," I pointed to the small cupboard like feature right across the airlock and ramp. "Sleeping quarters down here." It was then, that I remembered that we only had two cots. "So, uh, how are the sleeping arrangements gonna work?" I asked aloud, "There's a half seating area where we eat, the beds, and the cockpit, but..." I trailed off, looking at the woman who waved a hand as if it were a simple answer I was missing. Which, I probably was. My mind wasn't working anywhere near as fast anymore, not with the shitty lack of sleep I've had the last few weeks.

"Two people rest at a time, just hope you two don't mind switching out a cot," she suggested, "we can acquire an additional one at the next place we stop. There's a few systems we have to go through to get to Noveria after all."

"Right," I nodded my head, not liking it a bit that she was practically giving orders, but at the same time it was kinda nice to not have to come up with everything, even if it's only a cot. The way she held herself though certainly belonged to someone who had been in charge and important. My guess, whatever she was in Cerberus, she was somebody real important. Seemed like you had to be something special to stay alive with them around hunting you. "Bathroom's that way," I pointed to the room just besides the little seating area, her gaze following keenly.

"Anyways, that's basically the ship," I shrugged, "We've just resupplied, so we should be all set to make it to Noveria without needing to stop for anything more than fuel."

"Sounds good," she nodded her head. I started to chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to figure out what to say. She was still wearing the uniform from Anhur, and it was slightly off-putting. "So, do we need to get you a change of clothes?" I asked as politely as I could, though it probably sounded snide.

She shook her head, "I've got something," she said with the faintest of smiles, "mind me changing?"

Shaking my head, I stepped away, "Yeah, no problem, whatever you're comfortable with." She nodded her head, and walked into the bedroom to change. I walked back up to the cockpit, sitting down besides Marco who was staring intently at the stars rushing past us from our FTL speeding spacecraft.

"How much are we going to trust her?" He asked, eyes still on the stars.

My shoulders felt heavy. "She knows who I am."

"I assumed she did if she knew we could help her hack into something," He remarked, still not looking at me. Was he upset that I'd brought her along without consulting him about it? It wasn't like either she or Justine had left me with a chance to call him up and ask for his permission. Hell, one of them had tried to blow me up!

I shook my head, fingers running along the armrests of the chair. "No, I mean she knows who _I _am." I repeated, staring at him. He turned, golden contacts still on as he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "She knows exactly who Michelle Shepard is." I said seriously.

Marco was a wonderful friend, honestly, but some days he seemed too protective for either of our goods. He was near to jumping out of the seat to demand answers, probably involving a gun pressed against her head. That nice turian didn't really exist anymore, not when there wasn't the two of us in the ship. He could change on the drop of a hat from that person who'd saved the lost girl in the ally, to someone so violent and powerful I hardly recognized him. I'd seen that side of him indirectly pointed at me once before, it hadn't been fun.

"Look, I don't know how, and we're not going to ask just yet," I quickly said, shaking my head at the thoughts I could see forming in his mind.

"Why in the name of the Spirits wouldn't we!" He sharply asked, three fingers curling into the pilot seat.

"Because I've already told you how I know all this," I jumped in my seat at the eruption of the woman's voice, Miranda walking up to us with annoyance on her face when I finally worked up the courage to look at it, "I was with Cerberus."

My eyes widened as I took in her new outfit. A white catsuit that was clinging to every curve in her body, black sleeves that turned into gloves with white fingers and black boots rising protectively up to her knees. While the collar rose up her neck, it had a rather revealing boob window, a black choker adorning her neck and interesting belt that split into two pieces around her waist. My ears were on fire when I realized they were both looking at me. I'd wandered off into thought looking at her getup it would seem, and someone had said something to me.

Clearing my throat, I shifted in my seat to hide my burning face. "So..." I trailed off, "Why did you leave Cerberus? I think it's a fair question and all." I ducked my eyes from Marco's.

"The project I was working on opened my eyes to many things about Cerberus, including the evils within it. Some things happened, and I wasn't going to be a part of it anymore." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. Seemingly, getting anything personal out of her was going to be as hard as tickling a krogan.

"What were you doing?" I questioned, forcing my eyes to glance up at her to avoid being rude.

She was quiet for a little bit, and I was starting to get a sinking sensation that I'd just asked something too soon. Then she fixed me with a look that made my spine tingle, blue eyes boring into me. "Perhaps I'll tell you along this trip, but for now, just know it was something worth while." Marco laughed sarcastically, turning back to adjust something on the holograms before him.

Miranda narrowed her eyes slightly towards him, and then walked back into the bedroom. I glared at him, the turian ignoring my gaze for a few moments before he looked at me, "What?" He muttered.

"Do you _want _her to want to betray us?" I scolded, "We should certainly try to at least get on agreeable terms with the woman who was Cerberus and in the same tight space with us for the next several days at least."

After staring at me for a few moments, he sighed and nodded his head. "Fine," he simply said.

I got up from the seat, and opened up a small cupboard. The datapad was resting inside, glinting with a bright blue light to tell me that it had received a message back. Aria had responded! I snatched it up quickly, and rushed to the small eating like area on the ship, sitting down on the cold seat and pressing a few buttons to unlock the machine. I eagerly opened it up, my fingers shaking with excitement. She was alive then, alive and well enough to send back a response! A smile crept across my face before I could stop it, and I at first couldn't even figure out what she'd sent me.

And then when I had, my stomach dropped to my feet and I was jumping up screaming. "Marco!" He shouted in alarm, looking over his shoulder at me with as wide of eyes as he could, "What relay did you plot us though?"

"The Omega Nebula one of course." He responded nervously.

"What's going on?" Miranda's slightly worried voice came from the back, but I ignored her, clambering out of the seat and bringing the datapad to him. He read it once, twice, and then was freaking out just as well, pressing as many buttons as there were on the screens and flipping switches. "Athena, what's going on?" Miranda repeated, growling in my ear. She sounded like she was trying to fight her anxiety by us two suddenly going into hysterics. I wasn't even going to fight it.

"Cerberus took control of Omega." I breathed, heart racing a thousand miles an hour as I stared at her, Marco swearing under his breath.

"What?" Miranda's eyes widened, "When?"

"Three days ago."

"Shit." She uttered.

"Marco!" I turned towards him, the turian hissing violently at the panel. "Marco tell me you can turn us the other way."

He shook his head, "We're flying at speeds faster than light, across countless expanses of space. We change course by the smallest of degree an we might end up somewhere we really don't want to, like crashing into an asteroid or shooting right into a blasted _sun_."

"Fuck!" I shouted, knowing that we were stuck but every bit of me hating it. I clenched my hands into fists, holding them to my face and pacing back and forth. "Dammit we're royally fucked."

"If Cerberus just took over the station, then there's a chance they haven't moved all their forces in," Miranda offered optimistically, moving over to the panels and reaching for a screen. Marco scowled up at her, and I watched her simply look at him, waiting for him to allow her to do whatever it was she was going to. "Athena, I'll need your help," she called me over, my feet listening before I could tell them to. "Why didn't you just route us through the Citadel?" She scowled as Marco got up to let us work, whatever it was we were going to be doing.

"Because of all the traffic, we've got data showing at least six Cerberus operatives having been there recently, we're not risking anything." Marco quickly said.

That was only half true. I liked to gaze at the station as we refueled, watching the asteroid that glowed with red lights from afar, the massive station flickering with life and crime. Every time we'd stopped there I wanted to actually dock, but Marco didn't need to remind me why we'd left in the first place. I'd been a sitting duck there, being used and tricked by someone I thought was my friend. And Aria would never let me go again if I'd poked my head in to say hello.

But Miranda didn't need to know that.

"Cerberus is powerful but not that powerful," she remarked, moving her hand towards the now vacant seat. I took it, sitting down in the thing Marco and I both hated me being in. After all, I couldn't fly worth a damn. "Alright, open up the interfaces for the nav computer." She ordered, fingers flying quickly at her command. I brought it up, series of code and circles floating in orange holograms.

"What now?" I asked, trying to understand what she was wanting to do.

"Start inputting these numbers," she instructed, bringing up her omni-tool and holding it to my side where I could see it. From where her arm was though, it meant she was leaning behind me over the shoulder of the seat. My skin got hot at the thought, because I was quickly bringing up a few images of the woman in the tight white catsuit to the forefront of my mind. Shaking them away, I refocused on the numbers and started to type them across a small holographic keyboard. "Alright, if you do this right we should start sending out a Cerberus signal," she said.

"How?" Marco questioned.

Miranda ignored him for a moment, pointing at a string of code that went up the screens. I quickly selected it, expanding out some very interesting lines of data. "I was in charge of the project I worked on," she said, accent in my ear, "I learned plenty while doing it. If you send out a Cerberus signal, then they won't immediately be hostile. It might just give us enough time to make the connection to jump to the next system."

"Wouldn't they just see us?" Marco further asked.

"Cerberus will be protecting Omega, more than likely tightly clustered around the station. They'll be more focused on keeping anyone from entering the station, then the system. If we have a Cerberus signal showing up on the radars, then they won't send anyone to investigate either because it wouldn't be worth it."

I nodded my head. "If they've wrestled control from Aria, then you sure as hell can bet they'll be amping up their defenses. It's only a matter of time before she makes a move to recapture it." My fingers played with code, light and energy around my hands. I wasn't exactly certain what I was doing. When I hacked into new things or messed with code I wasn't familiar with, it was like my body knew what to do but not me myself. The first time I'd ever worked my way into a system was strange and new, but my body didn't seem to think it was. Maybe that was part of what Cerberus had wanted? Someone who could hack into anything, even if it was new and different from everything else.

Suddenly the ship shuddered, the systems going haywire. "The fuck did you do Athena!" Exclaimed Marco in alarm.

"I swear I didn't mean to!"

Miranda however, unlike Marco and I, was perfectly calm. "It's normal, just wait," she instructed coolly. It was dead silent, the life support systems were still running, but it was quiet as death inside the ship. A few moments later the ship returned to normal, a blinking on the holograms.

"So we're transmitting a Cerberus signal now?" My turian friend asked, moving towards the seat again.

I stood up, looking at Miranda who shrugged faintly. "If Athena did it right, then we should be." Well fuck, put it all on me then.

"How will we know if we did?"

She smiled grimly at me, making my insides churn with worry. "When we don't blow up." Fuck this woman was going to drive me insane. "I'm going to get some sleep." She announced, Miranda staring at us for a few more moments, and then dipped her head as if to say she was going elsewhere once again. She turned on her heels, and walked towards the bedroom.

Marco and I stayed where we were for a bit, and then he slumped into the seat. My back was turned to him, staying where I was watching Miranda with a thousand confused thoughts running through my head. Just who exactly had we picked up? She was unlike anyone I'd seen, and over the course of a year and some weeks I'd seen plenty of people from several worlds. From Omega and beyond, the galaxy just kept on surprising with the type of people one could find out there.

But just who Miranda was, now that was starting to boggle my mind. She was once a Cerberus agent, and considering Justine's reaction to her I'd decided to buy in that she had also actually left it as well and that we hadn't taken along another undercover agent. But then, she was also a very powerful biotic that much I could already tell. And if she was once the leader of a Cerberus cell, well, just what was the project on? Cybernetics again? Some sort of sick experiment or did it have to do with biotics like herself? What if-

"It's all gone." Marco's words snapped me out of my thoughts.

I turned to him, a sinking feeling in my gut as I realized he meant Omega. "Not entirely. They didn't destroy the station," I countered, sitting back down.

"They destroyed what it meant. Aria T'Loak might have been a scary ass woman, but she was also the only person who could keep some sort of fair order in the Terminus, especially on Omega."

I glared at him, "Don't talk like that, she's not dead Marco!"

"I didn't mean it like that," he quickly said, sitting upright in the seat. "I just meant that she's not in control anymore. Cerberus is a bunch of paranoid racist bastards, they certainly aren't going to have us aliens sitting back relaxing. Being a non-human just got a whole lot harder in the Terminus."

"They don't have Aria's power or influence. All they have is a station and a system." I said, shaking my head as I got to my feet. "I know that Marco, but don't forget that they're alright with enslaving their own people too. No one is safe from them." With that, I left him to think as I went to the bedroom.

I was tired, completely exhausted really, and there was no way I was going to listen to another 'Cerberus is evil!' conversation when I completely agreed with it. There was no point to keep on discussing it, we all knew it was true.

When I opened the door to the bedroom, I was quickly met with a half dressed Miranda who gave a yelp of alarm. Shit. "Woah sorry!" I said, covering my eyes with a hand and ducking my head.

"I guess I need to get used to other people on a ship," Miranda sighed. I guess she handled being seen half dressed a lot. Fuck that sounded really bad. "I don't really care, you just scared me. I thought you might be Marco." I dropped my hand, head still tilted downwards as I walked inside the bedroom.

"Right, well, I'm gonna be going to bed too." Somehow I didn't stammer. How the hell did I not stammer?

I could see a bit of movement out of the corner of my eye, which I assumed was her nodding her head. "Alright, it's all fine now." She said, and I glanced up to see her dressed in something far more suitable to sleep in. A pair of grey shorts and a white tank top. It fit her quite nicely. Swallowing, I started to remove the top clothing covering my light armor.

It suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't changed in front of someone for over a year, and each of those encounters ended with a lot of mind melding. As if my body could get any hotter, it did. If I didn't burst into actual flames soon, I'd be surprised. I turned around, partly to hide my burning cheeks, and managed to get the pieces of gear off my body, leaving me in a skin tight layer of padding. With that on, I grabbed my clothes to sleep in, and left the room to get changed in the bathroom. Unlike Miranda, I was far from that confident.

By the time I'd gotten back into the bedroom, having pulled on a pair of clothes similar to her own clothing, and avoided Marco's confused gaze, Miranda had curled up on the bottom cot. I smiled a bit at not having to argue which cot was my own. I flipped the lights off, and climbed up the bunk cots to where I'd been sleeping for well over a year. It wouldn't have looked good to try to convince her to give up the top. "Uh, goodnight Miranda." I called awkwardly once I was under the blanket.

Eyes glued themselves to one of the dim lights that never went out on the ceiling where it met the wall. She seemed to wait an eternity to respond, but when she finally did her voice sounded like she'd hardly had any energy left in her. Considering that biotic battle on Anhur, I couldn't say I was surprised. "Goodnight Michelle."

For once, I liked the sound of that name.

* * *

**An: So, "The Other Side of Omega" was always an experiment writing wise. From first person POV, OC led, and tampering with canon, you could honestly say I was testing certain waters. To Be Human, is also going to have a bit of that. So as to avoid confusing anyone too much, there will actually be changes in POV, but it will still be first person in upcoming chapters. Don't worry, Athena is still the main character, but the POV will change. I'll give clear distinctions between the POV's, but I figured I'd go ahead and let you know what was coming.**

**Thanks for reading, I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially on the dynamics between our three in a review. Catch ya next time!**


	6. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

That woman had a butt.

I wasn't even kidding, it was a glorious butt. We had survived the connection with the Omega Relay, and were speeding on our way to the Hawking Eta cluster. Miranda's signal trick had worked. We had been perhaps the most silent possibly about to die people ever. Marco had been real quick to get the next jump leveled up, and the moment we had felt the engines pick up to FTL speeds once more we allowed ourselves to relax.

The fact that it worked was impressive. Marco had woken us both up when we had gotten close, a granting us each a chance to be awake in case we did die. Which, seeing as we hadn't, I'd seen it fit to try to welcome Miranda a bit more. While my turian friend was still fairly untrusting with her I couldn't deny I was warming up to her.

Her butt, which I was trying so very hard not to stare at, was maybe making me warm up a bit faster. I had walked into the bedroom to find her staring at a datapad, back to the door. And it hadn't taken me a moment for my eyes to drop down to that glorious rump. Did she know that catsuit of hers showed off from her muscle to her lovely figure while still covering just about every inch of her? She had to.

Miranda glanced up from the datapad she was holding, something she had brought along with her. My eyes rose up to her face before she could catch just where I had been gazing. "Michelle," she greeted me, one hand resting on her hip. How in the hell was her body so perfect? I'd swear she was made from some sort of template for perfection.

"Marco is going to bed, and I figured you would be hungry." I pointed my thumb over my shoulder. "Biotics have super appetites right?"

The faintest trace of a smile pulled at her lips. "Thanks, but I can make something myself," she politely responded, holding the data pad against half of her chest with one arm as she started to leave the bedroom.

I shook my head, turning to follow after her. "Nah I can handle it, let me be a bit more friendly than my friend." I offered.

"He certainly could stand to be a bit more... polite," she agreed with a careful tone, like she didn't want to offend me, "Though I understand his hostility. He's very loyal to you." Miranda sat down at one of the two chairs besides the table peering down at the datapad that held her interest. I rummaged through the storage area where we kept food, opening the small fridge Marco and I had installed about a month after we'd left. Surprisingly, Aria had forgotten that bit.

"You don't have any allergies right?" I popped my head out from behind the door to the fridge, having to bend down where it rested on the floor of the ship.

"Don't give me something for turians and we'll be just fine," she called over, still glued to the screen. What was on it?

"Alright, we'll I could grill you some chicken."

"Chicken?" Disbelief colored her words, and when I glanced up at her she had turned her eyes up to me, one dark brow raised with curiosity and skepticism. That angle did wonders for her. Especially with those blue eyes that shimmered.

Nodding my head, I pulled out the frozen meat and placed it on the table for a moment to let her inspect it herself. She gazed at it for a few moments before she nodded her head in approval. "Alright, so long as you can actually cook." Was that a playful tease? I almost believed it was.

I grinned boastfully, "Well believe it or not, I'm actually pretty good. Marco can't really be much for taste testing when he's unable to so much as lick it without a reaction."

"Wouldn't that mean no one could correct you for horrible tasting food?"

Ouch. "I mean I do all my own cooking. Do that for more than a year, visit tons of cool places, you'll pick up some tricks," I countered, brushing off the jab. For some reason, I didn't find it offensive in the slightest.

I glanced over at her, taking the meat and removing it from the packaging. I place it on the counter-top grill we had and turned it on, walking to the bathroom real fast to wash my hands clean before I came back. Miranda was back to reviewing that datapad, and as I got a few things to season the meat with from the cupboard, my curiosity at last got the best of me. "What are you reading?"

"Some intel I've swiped," she responded, "like you have."

A smile crept across my face, pulling a can of corn from storage as well and popping the lid off. I pored the kernels into a bowl, and then put them into a nifty little re-hydrator machine. With that going, I checked back on the chicken and was quite pleased to see it was nearly done. "May I ask what it pertains to?"

She was silent for a few moments, and my body suddenly got swamped with dread. I understood that this was business but I wanted to know who this woman was. The shuttle wasn't very fast, and the trips between systems could be so long that I never had any real idea the amount of time had passed. I was only certain of a year gone because of where we land. Almost like going into a state of limbo between clusters, hoping you weren't shooting off into oblivion, thankful to come out on the other side.

"My father." Her words were matter-of-fact, and I left it at that. While I probably should have been asking my questions on the subject considering our mission and he was the entire point we'd joined up; I didn't want to make Miranda dislike me. She didn't seem like the kind of person you'd want as an enemy. Asking too many questions, being suspicious and annoying, well that wasn't going to make us easy allies.

"Alright, here we go!" I said with as much enthusiasm as I could get into it without being over the top, taking a spatula and sliding the chicken onto two plates and then cut the chicken into chunks that would suffice the two of us. Once the corn, which was also heated in the re-hydrator with the option I'd pressed, was on the plates I carried them both over to the table. Miranda blinked a bit, almost like she was surprised I'd served the food.

I rushed back to grab some forks and napkins and placed it on the table. "What's to drink?" Miranda asked when I'd handed them to her.

"What would you like?" I asked right back, "We've got some water, juice things, and some weird alcohols we totally can safely drink. Marco stashes all his own under the cots. Not that I would know or anything..." She shook her head, the faintest of a smile still on her lips and a short laugh escaping her. Something about it made me smile even wider, almost as if in triumph. This human was weird.

Miranda got to her feet and walked to where I kept the alcohol, perusing through it while I got up and took down two glasses. "We're stuck traveling for how long?"

"In a ship this size? From Omega to Hawking Eta?" I mused, pursing my lips a bit in thought. I probably looks silly. "I'd say at least half a week."

Lawson turned around, a bottle of a blue asari drink in her hand, "Sounds like plenty of time to talk then." Talk about what exactly? What did she plan on telling me a few things about herself, or Cerberus maybe? No, I got the feeling that she meant more like planning on what to do about her father. Which, I was fine with.

Once she'd poured a bit into the glasses, we both sat down with the bottle to the side of the table. "You know, I've had some pretty bad cooking before," Miranda remarked, glancing up at me as she stabbed the first piece of chicken with her fork. "You assure me this won't be among them?"

Dammit she really was trying to be playful. "I promise, now eat it, you're making me nervous." I laughed, scooping up corn.

I watched with my body admittedly alight as she ate the first piece. This wasn't the kind of feeling I usually got around other humans, a feeling of mistrust and anxiety. I hardly talked to my own species if I could avoid it. After all, Cerberus seemed to be everywhere, especially when they were hunting me down all across the galaxy. To say the least, I had an aversion to humans. But this one, this absolutely stunning one, I felt rather comfortable talking with.

Which was, all in all, really fucking weird.

"Alright, not half bad," she said at last, nodding her head in approval. The smile grew across my face before I could stop it, my heart doing a little flutter in my chest before I started to eat my own food for real. We were silent for a little while, both of us just munching down. I was fairly hungry, and Miranda looked like she was just a black hole. Despite how clean and neatly she was eating, no seriously that woman looked like the people I'd see in the vids while I was slouching forward with my face not far from the food, she was eating it pretty fast.

My mind started to wander as it usually did, hardly ever finding my head a comfortable place to remain for long. Silence was the open door to imagination, forcing my thoughts to echo louder than the engines for a change. I guess it got as stir crazy as the rest of me. When it was done fluttering from one group of random thoughts to another, I settled on the woman sitting across from me.

From the way we'd done things thus far, we'd probably be seeing each other more than Marco and she. At least, with shifts between sleeping and piloting. I couldn't do anything aside from make sure the ship's auto was still running while Marco rested. What about her? "Can you fly?" I asked aloud, taking a sip of the honey tasting drink afterwards.

She blinked at me, having settled into the silence that had fallen. "Yes."

"Can you fly this?" I gestured around us.

Miranda shrugged, "I'm certain I could. This model doesn't look too different from certain older Cerberus ships used to carry undercover agents." She was nearly done eating while half a plate remained for me. How did she eat so fast without choking?

"How many do you know?" I furrowed my brow, truly interested.

Miranda thought for a moment, though it wasn't the look of someone trying to recall something. More like, trying to know what to reveal. She really was holding a lot of secrets close. "Several, and those I don't I figure out quickly."

I sat up a bit straighter, tilting my head to the side. "How?"

"I'm good at what I do, and I adapt easily Michelle," she responded, finishing the food. Why did she keep calling me that? Was she trying to make a point or just get on my nerves?

"My names Athena," I started.

"It's Michelle," she countered, looking me dead in the eyes, "try as you may to deny it."

"But I'd like to be called Athena." Dammit it came out more whiny than stubborn.

"Why?" Her face was closed off.

"Why?" I repeated sarcastically, "Because I have hardly any memories of being Michelle Shepard! Michelle is not who I am." My voice was rising rapidly. Who was she to question who I was? I was the one that had to figure it all out all over again, not her! "Do you know when Cerberus took me? When I was _three_." I was leaning towards her over the table, trying not to sound too pissed off but I sure as hell was. "The last memory I have of a happy family was my cousins birthday, and you wanna know something, Cerberus was there then too. Watching, waiting, planning when to strike."

Miranda narrowed her eyes at me, arms crossed and tucked under her big boobs. "You actually had a happy family once Michelle, me, oh no not me." She scowled, making my insides writhe with genuine fear. Close quarters and biotics didn't mix well for the victim, which surely would be me. "I was created by my father in a test tube." She what now?

"So? At least that didn't require constant torture and surgeries." I countered quickly, the infuriating woman rolling her eyes.

"You didn't even remember them did you? Not until you had that breakthrough with Aria?" Who in the fuck was this woman?

"How the hell do you have any clue what went down on Omega? In fact, how the hell do you _really _know what went down with me at all?" I had gotten up from my seat. I had tried being polite, I had tried being respectful, but she had crossed a line. Fuck customs, I was getting answers.

Miranda rose to her feet as well, one hand going to her hip defensively. "You really want to know who I was in Cerberus?" She growled out in warning.

"Yes now tell me!"

"The woman that brought your cousin back to life."

The world stopped around me, the entire galaxy silent. This woman, was the one that brought Jane back? "How?" My voice broke, shoulders suddenly feeling as heavy as Omega, and I slumped down into the chair. "How did you bring Jane back?" So was that Shepard I'd seen on all the vids and the news really my cousin? Could she possibly be her? Not some clone. Not some fake. The real fucking deal Jane Shepard?

Miranda sat down, her face still a wall of hard emotion. "Science Michelle. I gave two years of my life to bring Shepard back from the dead. That Cerberus project I was in charge of, was called Project Lazarus. We used some of the most cutting edge technology and an unbelievable amount of money to revive her. And you know what? When we did it was the real Shepard."

My body was burning with fire, sweeping up from the cold shock that had swallowed me. It was really Jane? Then my cousin had actually killed all those batarians, destroyed an entire system. "You had no right!" I screamed, jumping from the chair so fast Miranda hadn't been ready. I got one hand on her shoulder, but the other was met by her own, stopping the punch I had aimed right for her face.

Disgust filled my every thought as I was pushed off her, and then I stepped around the table and went at her again. "Michelle stop!" She shouted, "The galaxy needed Commander Shepard! There was a whole new threat to humanity, and Cerberus wasn't just going to stand by!" I swept out her legs, Miranda falling down to the metal floor. Before I could pin her though, the blasted woman rolled to the side and got to her feet. "Dammit I don't want to fight you!"

"I don't give a damn!" I screamed, voice cracking into tears. It burned like fire, my whole body was a flame. I felt a tingling sensation rushing up my spine, energy burning and building. Something crackled around my hand, and when I went to punch Miranda again she ducked under electricity. I'd never been able to do that before? As confusion filled up besides the rage, Miranda sent my body skidding forward with some sort of biotic energy.

I gritted my teeth, trying to get up but she used that same trick several biotics did that got on my last damn nerves. A stasis field of blue and purple light glowed around me, all but my eye unable to move. "Listen dammit," she snarled with anger, looming over me while he hand glowed with biotics, "I revived your cousin, and then I was serving with her on the Normandy to stop a race called the Collectors that were abducting entire human colonies. _Entire _colonies."

"We gathered the best people, we did some bloody amazing things, and we lost people we cared for too. I lost someone I cared for even, so don't think I don't know about loss." She loomed. My mind was on fire, screaming words at her. "After we defeated the Collectors, Shepard completely left Cerberus and so did I and the rest of the Normandy crew. Why? Because your cousin is hero and leader, and right now all I see in you is a bloody mess."

The biotics dissipated without warning, and I fell back onto the ground. My head ached from hitting metal, and I struggled to sit up. "Why did Jane kill all those people?" I whispered, voice broken completely. Everything she'd said... It was so... hard to take in. I could only imagine how Aunt Hannah and Uncle John felt about all of this. Or my parents. Goddess my parents...

Miranda's voice was softer when she spoke, but I certainly wasn't looking at her face anymore. Instead, I was staring at the woman's feet. "There's a race of sentient machines called the Reapers Michelle. They're the most dangerous race to have ever existed." Living robots? "They have a cycle of arriving and harvesting all advanced organics, and then leaving without a trace. The protheans? They killed them, and every race before them."

Why wasn't it that hard to believe? Maybe because I was already half machine that it didn't surprise me that something even worse was out there. But what did this have to do with Jane? "You cousin was the first one to find out about the Reapers, and she has stopped them several times. That system with the batarians in it, well the Reapers were going to come right through the relay. They'd have swarmed all across the galaxy by now and we'd all be dead or dying."

"So... She bought us time at the cost of several millions of people?" I asked, looking up at her.

"Yes, she bought us time."

"Thirteen year old Shepard. Bought us time." I repeated, looking into blue eyes that looked a bit confused. "The last time I saw her, was at her thirteenth birthday. And now, she's saving the galaxy several times over. And she doesn't even know I'm alive." I brought my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them. It was the only thing that didn't make me feel like I was going to go flying. My heart was wrenching in my chest, sorrow filling me from the bottom up.

"Yes. She bought us time." Miranda replied calmly. "To answer your question, I know so much because I was in charge of rebuilding Shepard. And when I did that, I had to look into her entire family. And I found you." Something about the way she was that was soft, hopeful. Kind. Someone had found me. I wasn't forgotten, I wasn't shoved to the bottom of the galaxy. I wasn't erased.

I existed.

Tears started to flow from my body, sobs shaking my chest as I sat there on the floor, curled up on myself. I had been reduced to a mess, and it was my own fault. Dammit why didn't I ever try to contact my parents, my aunt and uncle, Jane? They're all I ever had aside from Marco, and I didn't show to them I was alive. I was a selfish woman. I was a horrible family member.

I didn't- "Michelle." I blinked up at Miranda, who was frowning uncomfortably. "I'm sorry for what Cerberus did to you, but we can't change the fact. Just like we can't change that my father made me himself. If you don't accept that part of yourself, then it's going to destroy you."

Why did she have to be right? Why did she have to be so very right?

"And now, we've got to stop my father, because he's doing something terrible and we don't have much time until the Reapers arrive. And if you'd like, then I could try to get you to meet your cousin again before they come." This woman was so full of surprises. One second she's just some human, and the next she's the woman who brought back my cousin and a top Cerberus agent who knew all about me.

I blinked tears away, staring at raven black hair. Familiar raven black hair. "You were on Omega with Jane, and a turian a year ago." It suddenly clicked. That glimpse of dark and red hair by the Gozu district, a scarred turian besides them. That fleeting moment before I knew who I was looking at, when I'd missed a chance because I couldn't remember. A moment I felt guilty about over and over again.

Miranda nodded her head, holding out a hand to help me up. I took it after a bit of hesitation. "I was." She was so upfront about it.

"You promise you'll help me meet Shepard after we deal with your father?" I stared into her blue eyes.

"Promise." She gave me a serious look, nodding her head.

This woman was going to drive me crazy. But, I felt like I could trust her and her bubbly butt.

* * *

**AN: What's this! A new chapter only a day later? :O Yeah, don't get used to that, I just couldn't stop is all. Anywho, I pushed the POV change to the next chapter, because this certainly merited a full one, and I want to not have to squeeze in the change. I hope you enjoyed it, this was actually tons of fun to write, and I can't wait to hear what you think in a review! Thanks for reading!**


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